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Well, this is extremely delayed but I had an extremely inspiring day and feel like it is time to blog about the L2 Creations fall photo shoot. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year, and I wanted to do something that would capture the beauty of the season and combine it with something mystical and elegant. I had a general theme in mind with a color scheme, but needed a little help honing my ideas and coming up with a clear concept. That's where the wonderful Leah Molinari came in, once again! We did some brainstorming over Irish coffees at the Red Stag Pub in Bethlehem, PA. and came up with this whimsical fairy tale like concept for the shoot. We decided to put all of the gorgeous models in hand made, black tulle skirts (did i mention Leah made these herself??) and black tops to add a little uniformity to the shoot and really accentuate the pieces with little distraction. This look not only worked wonders with the jewelry, but with the models themselves. Each one of the women involved got to feel like these beautiful ethereal beings (not that they weren't already!!) and show their fiercest sides. I can say this with confidence, because I stepped out from behind the scenes and in front of the camera as one of my own models. It was nerve-wracking and definitely exciting, an ultimately incredibly empowering.

To have an image captured of yourself where you look like a bad ass woodland witch (seriously, it was awesome) with the power to entrance you with a glance would make any woman feel incredible about herself. Not only did I feel empowered and appreciative of my curves and appearance after the shoot, I could see the rest of the models feeling the same. Being able to visibly see a boost of confidence of some of my closest friends was an awesome experience. In a world of self deprecation and a lot of pressure to look perfect, this was an amazing experience. I must, as always, take my proverbial hat off to the incredibly talented Leah Molinari (www.whimsy-and-whatnot.com). She has this natural ability to bring even the shyest, least confident person out of their shell and can get a stunner of an image with what seems like no effort. I will always cherish being able to work with such an amazing and beautiful human being, inside and out.

As I reach the end of this entry, I realize I wrote almost nothing about my jewelry itself, but a lot about how gorgeous and awesome my fiends are and, you know what, I am just fine with that. I am incredibly blessed to be running a business where I can do something I love and express and share my creativity with others, while simultaneously giving some of the most wonderful people I know an opportunity to feel beautiful. I look forward to more!

Earth, Space and Time. I'm calling the line this for a very simple reason, those three things are from where I drew inspiration for the new pieces. Each piece I made was inspired by something I saw in the world- the stars in the night sky, a sunset, interesting architecture, all of the different elements that make this world the beautiful thing it is. In addition to the already industrial tone of my brand, I tried incorporating some color into a few pieces which gave the line the essence of summer.

Keeping this in mind, I styled the summer photo shoot accordingly, which was an absolute blast. I spent weeks before pairing pieces of jewelry with different clothing options that I pulled from the wardrobes of each model I used (Thanks, ladies!!) and constantly searching Pinterest and adding to boards to really get a sense of what I wanted. I finally decided on a style and a location. What I came up with was a "beach grunge" look- distressed shorts, over-sized plaid, ripped sweaters and tees, grungy combat boots, etc. and we all (the models, myself, and my talented photographer) piled into two cars full of clothing, makeup and camera equipment and made the trek down the shore to Asbury Park, NJ- home of The Stone Pony and some old stomping ground to The Boss. It was the perfect backdrop to capture the look we were going for. It is amazing to see how great the photos turned out because it POURED on and off for a good couple of hours-turns out, rain makes for some killer shots! It was a long day and it took a lot of coffee and a beer or two, but it was one of the best days of my life. Seeing my creations come to life in a sense was so rewarding, and Leah captured the photos better than I could have hoped. Though I styled this shoot very specifically, the great thing about my pieces is that they're really versatile. Take a big statement necklace and pair it with simple jeans and a white tee for a bold accent to a simple look or add a delicate pendant necklace to any outfit for a simple touch or throw a bunch of necklaces on over a bralette and add an over-sized flannel like I did!

All in all I couldn't be happier with the way the new jewelry and the photo shoot turned out! I can't wait ti see what comes next!

Actually, this tale isn't as old as time. It's not even a year old. Naturally, working with watches and the fact that this is my first post made me think of the opening line to "Beauty and the Beast" so i made it the title of this introductory blog post. (I'm also going to hear the voice of Angela Lansbury in my head for the rest of the day.)

I just wanted to say HELLO! and tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Lauren, I'm the founder and creator of this little business here, L2 Creations. I'm married to a serious babe named William. He's hilarious, intelligent and strong, and is the best support system I could have asked for. He cheers me on in my victories and encourages me though my failures, and always gives great insight and opinions. We currently live in a tiny apartment that I love in Bethlehem, Pa. though I myself am originally a Jersey girl. Right now, it's just the two of us...but in the near future I'm sure we will be adding a couple four legged, furry creatures to our little family. At least one dog and one cat...or 8 cats. I love cats.

Okay anyway, back to L2 Creations. When I was in high school, I remember being constantly dissatisfied with layered necklaces I saw for sale. I know it seems silly, but I could never find one I liked and I was constantly on the hunt for that perfect layered necklace. One day I decided to make my own out of some other old, broken necklaces I had laying around. That's where my habit of creating my own jewelry started. Flash forward several years and that habit plus my fascination for antiques and old watches equaled the idea of making my own jewelry featuring watch parts. BOOM L2 Creations was born. I started this business right around Christmas time of 2014 and it has been a bit of a whirlwind ever since. I am loving it more and more every day, and I tank God for opening the doors He has over the past several months. I've always been a creative person, and I can't even fully express how rewarding it is to have somebody want to pay real money for something I got to design and create with my own two hands.

That's it! That's a little about me and L2 Creations. I've never blogged before this....so thanks for reading! I'd like to try and keep this up as new product lines come out and photo shoots happen so keep checking back!